Jordan's King Abdullah II will meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah later this month, a senior PA official said Monday.
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It will be the king's first visit to Ramallah since 2017 and is expected to take place before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which starts at the beginning of April.
The PA official told Israel's Kan public broadcaster that Abbas will use the visit to convey to the United States the need for advanced diplomacy with Israel.
The leaders will also discuss expected tensions during Ramadan in Jerusalem, particularly between Jews and Muslims at the Temple Mount during the Jewish holiday of Passover, which overlaps with Ramadan this year.
"We have no interest in an escalation – but Israel is pushing for it, so far," said two senior PA officials, Kan reported.
One official suggested that if Israel wants to avoid friction, it should bar Jews from visiting the Temple Mount for the entire month of Ramadan.
"Let the Jews pray in their place and leave the Temple Mount for the Muslim Ramadan prayers – this is the message that the Jordanian king should hear from the Palestinians."
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Jordan's king also expressed his fears of the rising tensions in a recent meeting with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in Amman.
"The king's arrival is mainly a form of support," another PA official told the left-wing Hebrew-language daily Haaretz.
"He's a significant supporting actor vis-a-vis Israel and the United States… the view is that the Palestinian diplomatic portfolio is on ice," the official said.
Abbas is currently in Germany but is expected to return to Ramallah by early next week.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
